Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has declared, that he has no regrets for publicly endorsing President Bola Tinubu despite belonging to a different political party.
Soludo stated this while speaking to State House correspondents on Tuesday after a meeting with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He described the engagement as “a pleasant meeting” and commended Tinubu’s health and spirit.
“The President is in such high spirit, hale and hearty, and it was such a pleasure to meet with him. It was quite a pleasant meeting,” Soludo said.
When asked why he was so bold in endorsing a president who is not in his party, Soludo recalled that his support for Tinubu was not new.
“These caps were produced even from the time the President visited Anambra State and you saw all the billboards and all the stuff proclaiming that progressives are working together,” he explained.
“Subsequently, it’s a fundamental idea that I believe very strongly — that all the political parties who profess progressivism should actually come out together in a massive coalition to deepen the process, not only of our democracy, but also of economic and social development of our country.”
The governor stressed that his call for “progressives working together” was rooted in conviction and long-standing personal ties with the President.
“When I say progressives working together, it’s a call for all those who talk about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu — I mean, I don’t have any apologies about it.
“President Tinubu is my friend, has been my friend 22 years now and counting, so you don’t deny your friend or begin to be quivering about who is he.
“He is my friend. I support him, and I’m impressed by the bold steps he has taken, particularly in the areas of the economy, the structural reforms, and I have said so severally — we’re taking the right steps and we need to stay the course,” Soludo said.
On the security situation in Anambra State, the governor said his administration had adopted a holistic strategy since January, following the passage of the state’s Homeland Security Law.
“It’s trying to deal with insecurity from the foundations. All the deadly native doctors are on the run from the state because these are the guys giving false hope, deceiving our young ones and luring them into criminality,” he explained.
Soludo said the government was deploying both kinetic and non-kinetic measures to tackle insecurity.
While the kinetic aspect involved armed security operations, the non-kinetic component focused heavily on youth empowerment and job creation.
“We have a unique programme — one year through skills — that is like no other, where we trained and empowered about 5,000 of them, and another 8,700 will be receiving some billions this month or next month, and we’re creating several thousands of youth millionaires right away within the first three years,” he said.
According to him, the initiative was already “cascading all over the state” with youths actively participating, while the government also addresses hardship alongside infrastructural transformation, including schools and healthcare.
